3 Players United Will Have To Be Wary Of – Fulham

Manchester United face Fulham in their final Premier League match before Christmas at Craven Cottage tomorrow. So with that in mind it’s worth taking a look at these three players who we should be wary of going into the game:

Clint Dempsey

Landon Donovan might be seen as a more decorated American midfielder but Dempsey after being rated highly during his time in the MLS for the New England Revolution, is building a great career of his own that deserves credit.

There are few better goalscoring midfielders in the division than Dempsey who in many ways is taking on more and more responsibility for Martin Jol due to Danny Murphy’s legs perhaps beginning to tire now that the midfielder’s 34 years of age.

It’s a shame that Dempsey in many ways is thought of as the man whose shot Robert Green allowed to squirm under his body in the last World Cup as he’s much more than that and would walk into a lot of top side making an immediate impact.

Brede Hangeland

United fans will remember giant defender Hangeland from last season’s thrilling draw against Fulham at Craven Cottage when the 6’4’ Norwegian headed home Damien Duff’s corner deep into injury time to earn the hosts a point.

The defender signed from FC Copenhagen in 2007 has settled brilliantly into English football and in many ways it’s a surprise that he hasn’t left to move onto a bigger club given the quality of his performances which have been outstanding at times

What won’t be a surprise this weekend will be that Wayne Rooney and co will have to work very hard to get the best of Hangeland. At times he has been Fulham’s Nemanja Vidic and if the Serb fails to recover from injury, he could very well be his replacement at Old Trafford.

Bryan Ruiz

Ask FC Twente fans about Costa Rican attacking midfielder Ruiz and they will speak highly of him. After all, it was his goals that led the Dutch club to their first title in their history under former United assistant and England manager Steve McClaren.

On the last day of the transfer window Ruiz snubbed Newcastle United’s approach to join Fulham for a reported £10.6m and despite a slow start is now beginning to show in glimpses that Martin Jol could have a very special player on his hands.

Ruiz starred in Fulham’s last outing scoring one and setting one up for Dempsey in a 2-0 win over Bolton. Despite having made 13 appearances for his new club, the Costa Rican could really mark his arrival in England by scoring against United.